10 simple but unsolvable world puzzles

With modern technology, we know almost everything. With the flick of a finger, anyone can see photos showing the details of Pluto's surface, or take a tour of the McMurdo research station in Antarctica through google maps street view. It goes without saying that the era when the world remained mysterious is over.

Is this really the case? Although the technology is advanced, we still don't understand some things about the basic situation of the earth. Here are 10 paradoxical complications. 10. The blind spot of the metropolis on the map

When it comes to places not on the map, one thinks of remote, pristine natural areas, such as the Amazon rainforest or Antarctica. In real life, however, places that are not marked on the map are not so far away from us. There are still areas in some international cities that have not been measured and are therefore not presented on the map.

The reason is often that it is dangerous to do so. Mexico City's "neza-chalco-itza" slum is one of them, where life is disorderly, extremely poor, and the police are small. Elsewhere, such as the "orangi" slum in Karachi, Pakistan, the map shows only its location, without any other details we could have imagined.

This difficulty sometimes comes from the rapid development of the economy. In some cities in Asia and Africa, infrastructure is developing rapidly, and it is almost impossible to show these areas in all directions. When a perilous slum grows so fast, it is impossible to mark its location.

This question gives us some trouble. In 2012, the Nigerian government removed the historic Makoko slum, a floating slum in Lagos. Because it is not marked on the map, the changes in this area over more than a hundred years have since disappeared forever. 9. A mountain that humans have never climbed

It has been more than 160 years since mountaineering became popular. During this period, people trekked mountains and rivers and climbed many of the world's most majestic peaks. Mount Everest, Chogol, And Kilimanjaro continue to welcome people who challenge themselves, as do hundreds of other mountains whose names we are not even familiar with. But humanity is still far from having reached all the peaks of the planet. The Everest Mountaineering Qualification Committee says there are "far more" peaks that people have not been to than those who have already been. The only conundrum is that we are not quite sure of the individual peaks.

There is no unified database to record which mountains have been summited. Some of the peaks are clearly already visited, while others are in the midst of heated debate. In the past, it was almost impossible to bring back evidence of the success of this climbing event from a hidden mountain. Eventually we have to rely on the statements of the late climbers, admitting that they had successfully climbed a certain mountain, and that only "reputation" could prompt them to confess their failures.

In addition, those records themselves are problematic. Many mountaineering records, especially those of Japanese and Korean mountaineering teams, are not translated into English and are not accessible to the general public. Digitized records are even fewer. We can be sure that there are many peaks that no one has climbed, but which ones are unknown. 8. Unknown minerals

There are about 5,000 known minerals on Earth. This number is surprising, and you might think we've basically mastered their distribution. However, western Australia saw the emergence of a new mineral in 2014, and the news came into focus for a while.

According to a study last year by Robert M. Hazen, a researcher at the Carnegie Institute of Science, it was found that all minerals still have a long way to go. The team used a complex data simulation system to calculate the amount of minerals currently unknown on Earth, totaling more than 1,500 species.

It's not as incredible as you might think. Most of the Earth's minerals are scarce, and most species occur in no more than 5 places throughout the planet. The land area that has not yet been studied by scientists is so vast that it makes sense that many minerals are not yet known.

One of the interesting things about Heyssen's findings is that his research only includes minerals that still exist and that we can get. The model also tracks minerals that have appeared over the past few hundred years and disappeared. The amount of these minerals that are "gone" can be huge. 7. Unknown species

In 1972, biologist Jennifer Owen began documenting the flora and fauna that had appeared in her gardens on the outskirts of town. 40 years later, she has documented a total of 8,000 species of flora and fauna, 20 of which have never appeared in England before. The history of four of them is still blank in science. Owen never left home, but accidentally recorded 4 new species.

This anecdote shows that we don't really know much about the species that live with us on Earth. People inadvertently discover new creatures, the number of which is beyond our expectations, and often the places found are unimaginable. Owen's discovery is incredible, but not the most bizarre. Dave? Dave Ebert discovered 24 new shark species by visiting Taiwan's fish market. A scholar who studies mold found 3 variants of boletus in a pile of dried up porcini mushrooms in London.

A 2011 estimate put the total number of unrecorded species on Earth at about 7.5 million. At that time, we already knew only 1.2 million species. This means that as many as 90 percent of marine life and 86 percent of land life may still be hovering outside the scientific community. 6. The degree of endangerment of the species

Humans have pushed many animals to the brink of extinction, and you can say with a little thought the ones that have the most serious existential crises. Bipedal rhinos, Hainan gibbons, clawed rhinos, and other animals that often appear in charitable appeals. But these are just the animals we identify as endangered, and there are thousands or more of the animals and plants that we don't know if they still exist, whether they are healthy, whether they are an existential threat, or whether they will naturally die of old age.

This problem lacks support. The international union for conservation of nature has the world's most comprehensive database of endangered animals. By 2013, they had assessed the living conditions of only 71,576 species. Even of the 1.2 million species of organisms we know, this is only a very small fraction. There are still 7.5 million species that have not yet been discovered waiting to be evaluated, so we do not know the living conditions of most species.

The first problem is finding these species. There may still be seven oahu alauahios in Hawaii, although no one has seen them since 1985. These birds may be extinct or may reappear one day, just as people think the Israeli frog is extinct. For species, we don't even know most of the basic state of existence. 5. Which city is growing the fastest

Although we don't even understand the world of animals, we think we know our own world. Of course not. Densely populated urban areas are complex, and we can't even say which one of the fastest-growing cities in the world is.

The question is difficult, similar to asking if there are multiple angels dancing on the tip of a needle. Knowing which city has the fastest population change may help us predict where the next economic powerhouse will emerge and inspire us to adjust our policies accordingly. The only trouble is that there are many ways to measure urban development, and the answers are different.

Statistics show that the Indonesian island of Batam is at the forefront of this change, growing at an annual rate of 7.4%. Another statistic shows that the fastest growing city is Niamey, Niger. There are also statistics that draw the conclusion that Xiamen. The winner city in one statistic may rank outside the top ten in another statistic.

The increase in the geographic extent of the city is also difficult to measure, similar to the problem above that caused the map to not mark parts of the map. It's growing fast, and the data we get from measuring a city more precisely is outdated. In short, it's not so easy to predict where the next big cities will rise. 4. Which country is the happiest

After the 2008 crisis, many people began to look for more effective ways to evaluate a country's wealth than GDP. The National Happiness Index is in front of everyone – and governments everywhere from Thailand to the United Kingdom are starting to use it. In theory, the idea is great; people's lives go far beyond contributing to the economy. But in reality, the measurement results are often a big surprise.

You may have heard of Bhutan, a small mountainous country in the north of India, that is not only extremely poor, but also difficult for tourists to get in. It is known as "the happiest place in the world," a title that has spawned a slew of magazine articles on why the low-carbon, non-smoking, environment-loving social model of Why It should be replicated elsewhere. The problem is that its title of "happiest country" comes from just one survey.

All in all, Bhutanese are either extremely happy or extremely miserable. We don't know. Other countries are also difficult to measure. There are statistics that have pushed Latin America to the top of happiness. Others consider this honor to belong to Northern Europe. To measure happiness on a global scale, "happiness" seems to have become blurred. 3. Caves without human beings

We all know that most of Earth's oceans have not been explored. And the reason is not that we spend all our energy on developing land. There are thousands of caves under our feet that no one has ever visited. These underground worlds are numerous. According to a National Geographic estimate, 90 percent of the caves remain undetected by humans.

This data is a bit old, but it still illustrates how difficult it is to understand the world beneath our feet. Most of the caves are still deeply hidden, with no visible entrances on the ground. Even in places like the United States, where maps are well-informed and have been carefully explored, 50% of the caves remain undiscovered.

That said, the shocking, crystal-filled cave photos you see online may be just the tip of the iceberg. There is also a whole undiscovered world underground, a dark world that is hundreds or even thousands of years away from the surface. Who knows? Maybe there's a Morroc man below. 2. Outcomes of marine pollutants

There's a heavy-hearted argument: There's probably not an inch on Earth that isn't polluted. Affected by atmospheric circulation and ocean currents, exhaust gas waste from millions of factories and millions of vehicles has polluted all corners of the world.

This is even more frightening: Some scientists believe that the earth's oceans are also all polluted and will never be clean again. As a result of our profligacy in the 20th century, Earth's oceans have been polluted.

Microplastics gave birth to these disturbing news. Microplastics are tiny plastic fragments that are broken down from plastic bottles and plastic pockets. They appear in any body of water in Earth's oceans, and no one knows if they can be removed. The most pessimistic scientists believe that these microplastics will exist for as long as the oceans exist. 1. Unknown civilization

People who can throw away an entire civilization don't know how clumsy it is. However, human beings have experienced this more than once or twice, maybe a dozen times, or even hundreds of times. Many social civilizations, such as the Omec civilization, have been rediscovered, and this may be just the tip of the iceberg. Some scientists believe that new technologies can quickly find more than a dozen disappearing civilizations.

The tropical rainforest environment is complex and hides many traces of human activities. Ask the explorers who are looking around for Eldorado or the lost Z City and return empty-handed, and you'll know. That's not to say there's nothing in the rainforest. Occasionally, we find traces of a long history left by agricultural labor or the excavation of the land. Such a large-scale project shows that there must be some kind of civilization behind it.

With the help of specially equipped drones searching the rainforest, it is possible to find these long-lost ethnic groups. If we're lucky, we may be able to spot traces of the lives of ancient groups (or populations) that have long been forgotten.

(This article is from the Internet and does not represent the views and positions of a single piece of information)